1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to electronic commerce.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Consumers are increasingly using the Internet to purchase goods and services through electronic commerce (also referred to herein as e-commerce) websites. The quantity and variety of items that can be purchased online is ever-increasing. To facilitate online shopping, tools have been developed that automatically recommend certain items to users. Such tools provide value by locating and presenting a selection of items that, while not specifically sought out by the user, may nonetheless be of interest to the user, thus enhancing the shopping experience. User interest may be gleaned from monitoring the user's search, browsing, and/or purchasing history. For example, content-based recommendations may be used to suggest items based on any content associated with the items, such as an item description, or other characteristics such as color, size, category, and so forth. Accordingly, content-based recommendations may generated by comparing the user's search query, browsing history, and/or purchasing activity against content associated with items for sale on the e-commerce website.